Substitute Deniz Undav scored twice, including a dramatic injury-time winner, as Germany came from behind to beat Ivory Coast 2-1 in Toronto and reach the World Cup knockout stage for the first time since 2014.
Germany are back among the World Cup’s big boys. A come-from-behind 2-1 win over Ivory Coast in Toronto on Saturday booked their spot in the knockout rounds for the first time since 2014, ending a run of back-to-back group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022.
It wasn’t pretty for long. Franck Kessie gave the Ivorians a 30th-minute lead, smashing home from close range after Brown’s brilliant block on Diallo only parried the danger into his path. Germany pushed hard for an equaliser, even thinking they’d found one twice, only for both efforts to be ruled out for fouls.
Enter Deniz Undav. The Stuttgart striker, introduced as part of a triple substitution, changed the game in an instant. He volleyed home a cross from fellow sub Nadiem Amiri in the 68th minute to level things up, then popped up again deep into stoppage time to snatch a last-gasp winner and send the Germans into raptures.
According to PUNCH, Undav’s brace took him to five goal contributions in just 56 minutes of World Cup football this tournament — a stunning impact off the bench that now puts pressure on coach Julian Nagelsmann to consider starting him.
For Ivory Coast, the defeat leaves work to do, needing a result in their final group game to chase a first-ever knockout-stage appearance.
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